Our annual StarMegaDo charter flight is scheduled for November 5, 2010. This year we have chartered a Continental Boeing 757-300 to take 216 enthusiasts across the USA. This year's charter itinerary is as follows:

November 5, 2010:

0700 CST: CO 1905 takes off from IAH bound for PHX

0800 MST: We park at the US Airways hangar

0800-1200 MST: US Airways invites the participants to their PHX Hub & LH invites you to their ACTA

1200 MST: We board CO 1905 from the regular PHX terminal

1500 PST: We land at Paine Field in Everett Washington Paine (PAE) for a special tour of the Boeing factory and to see LH's latest aircraft, the B 747-8i

We still have about 30 seats left on this trip. The cost for economy seats is 699$. This includes transportation and catering. You will earn both elite and redeemable miles for the flights on your choice of CO, UA, LH, or BD. We can also offer a discount code for 5%-13% of of CO flights taken in conjunction with the event.

This charter is the core event of the StarMegaDo 2010 which spans the first 6 days of November. You don't have to participate in all of the events, but you do have to participate in the charter to attend any of the other events. There is much more to sign up for an enjoy. Just read the posts below!

We are looking forward to seeing you on board!

Tommy777, Oliver2002, Xyzzy
Event Organizers

Public Charter flights operated under Title 14CFR Part 380 DOT PC 10 153 by TomOli, LLC with flights on Continental Airlines.
Conditions applicable to the charter are in the operator-participant contract, available here

The 2009 Star Alliance Mega DO was one of the largest and most successful FlyerTalk events ever. The sold-out event gave 229 distinguished members the opportunity to meet dozens of airlines executives like Herr Wolfgang Mayerhuber, President and CEO of Lufthansa, Graham Atkinson, President of United Mileage Plus, and Jaan Albrecht, President of Star Alliance. The lucky participants got to do a low pass, buzz the tower in Toulouse and wake up the French ATC with the most beautiful lady flying (a 757 mind you), followed by an exclusive visit to the Airbus factory to take a close look at the Airbus 380 production. 4 full days packed with once-in-a-lifetime experiences will be remembered forever by the 229 lucky participants.

After thousands of hours of planning and impeccable execution (minus 30 missing Leis that showed up in Tommy’s work laptop bag a week later), the 3 volunteers tommy777, oliver2002, and xyzzy put their feet up at the Sofitel in Munich, ordered some Weisswurst, drank a liter of Gin, and agreed that they had pulled off the by far most amazing DO in Flyertalk’s 12 year history.

Christmas came and the three organizers started thinking. Can this be topped; can we make an even better experience?

The answer was yes.

Introducing

The brand new 2010 Star Alliance Mega DO.

Yep, that’s right. We are doing it again and this year’s event will be even more Mega. By far!
Where else can you:

* Drink Champagne and chat with dozens of airline executives, including the top brass of the new United, the world’s largest airline. That’s right. Tell Jeff he’d better not remove Economy Plus -- in person. Tell Herr Wolfgang to shut down the BMI call centers in India. Buy Doug a 2USD Coke! Oh, and of course have a great meal and unlimited Champagne on their tab!

* Hang out with the Starwood executives & tell Chris that it’s time to give Platinums free breakfast

* Participate in influential workshops, get the exclusive inside tours, and yes, you can get your picture taken inside an airplane engine

* Fly on very special party flights across the Atlantic to Frankfurt and then To Houston. Send ACARS messages between the 3 aircrafts that have FTers on board - a Lufthansa 747, a Swiss A330 and an Austrian 777.

* Have lunch under a 777

* Get a very exclusive inside tour of Boeing, the leaders of civil aviation’s home in Seattle. Be among the very few who have landed with a jet at the private airport Everett. Be one of the first in the world to get a close look at the new queen of the skies - the 747-8 Intercontinental, and also the plane of the future - the 787 Dreamliner

* Take part in the first Frequent Traveler Awards (the voice of the Frequent Flyer), in the Spirit of the Freddies. Meet celebrities and airline executives from all over the world who will be attending the awards

* Fly on a special chartered plane* with very special catering and service. (Can you say Champagne better than Krug? Can you say XO? Can you say 30 year old Single Malt?) Oh, and you will of course earn miles (d’oh, this is Flyertalk!)

And the list just goes on. 6 days of once-in-a-lifetime experiences you would never get anywhere else, so exclusive they cannot be bought at any price. Clear your calendar.

You are hereby cordially invited!

The program:

Note: before you start reading the "Mega" Program of the Megado, note that you don't have to attend the entire program. The core event you need to attend is the charter on Friday the 5th. Everything else is optional. Also note that if you are not ticketed for the charter, we cannot admit you to the other events.

October 31
We have a little predo Party starting at the Westin in NYC. We meet at the Westin TS around 6pm.

November 1
Morning: 08.30 SPG will put up a little program at the Westin, breakfast will be served. This will last till latest 12.30-1pm

17.30 We meet at JFK airport for a 'snack' and drinks (in the T1 LH lounge hosted by LH NYC, so be prepared to meet execs and listen to speeches) to board LH 405 to fly to FRA at 10pm
[or for those who want to try LX: we board LX 15 (in T4) to fly to ZRH and then LX 1072 to FRA]
[or for those who want to try OS: we board OS 88 to fly to VIE and then LH 1235 to FRA]

November 2
We arrive at FRA, the participants starting the SMD2 in Europe join us from this point

Tours and focus groups 14.30-18.00: LH will organise an event with their *A partners and the *A in the FRA area
14.30-16.30: we get an intimate session with the LH 'Lady Bee', the A380 flagship
17.00-19.00: a sneak peak at innovations LH will launch; and *A FFP Workshops

Evening reception at 19.00: Meet executives from *A and LH Group airlines
Surprise nightcap at a special location

November 3

We board LH440 (or CO 47 if you like to try CO) to fly to Houston, a special farewell in the FRA T1 C terminal

Evening : will be a quiet evening alone (no official events), to allow people to recover from the past flights the participants starting the SMD2 for the domestic US portion join us from this point

November 4

Continental day: CO will host us in IAH. We meet for pickup at 10 am and will be back latest at 3pm.

November 5
at 5.15 we assenble in the lobby to take the hotel shuttles to the terminal to checkin at the group/elite desk in concourse E.
aprox 6.00 am We board our charter* flight in IAH to fly to PHX. Departure at aprox 7am.

The charter will be operated by a Continental 757-300 with 24 F and 192 Y config. Luggage check will be available and departure from the terminal like a normal scheduled departure. You will receive boarding passes the evening before.

On arrival in PHX we join US Airways for an event at US HQ. Program: meet Doug P. and 8 of his fellow execs plus much more.

aprox 12.30 pm: We depart PHX for PAE from the regular CO gate in the terminal

3 pm: we arrive in Paine Field at Boeing to tour the facilities and visit LH's latest aircraft type, the 748i, the 787 and much more.

November 6
Participants start their their journey home: Europeans take LH 491 (dep. 15.45) back to FRA the next day

Domestic participants take the chartered plane back to IAH at 9 am from SEA (SEATAC). This is optional, you will have the option to request the additional leg if you desire. This will a be no-frill standard catering flight back as if you are flying regular mainline service.

* Please note that the charter we are is a public charter as per 14 CFR Section 380. All applicable laws apply.

The Starwood group will be our partner for accommodation in this event and will provide special rates at the hotels chosen to host the events.
Starwood properties:

New YorkWestin Times Square (rate of $249 for the night of Oct 31-Nov 1)

FrankfurtSheraton Frankfurt Hotel & Towers (rate 99€/night)

HoustonSheraton North Houston at George Bush Intercontinental (rate 99$/night)

Seattle
The Westin Seattle (rate 149$/night)

You can pick any hotel you like. Note that the sheduled transportation and meeting points will always be at the designated hotels listed above.

Costs:
The pricing for the event will be in multiple blocks:
The scheduled flights

LH has published a group fare for those starting in the US (JFK-FRA-IAH) and we will soon have a group fare for those starting in Europe (FRA-IAH//SEA-FRA). In order to allow some of you to try out a different airline, LX has arranged for a one way group fare (JFK-xZRH-FRA).
The price currently is:
LH JFK-FRA-IAH: 3128$ all inclusive Business (booking class Z), 700$ in economy (booking class W/S)
LX JFK-xZRH-FRA: 1566$ in Business, 341$ in Economy (P)
OS JFK-xVIE-FRA: 1600$in Business (J)
CO: FRA-IAH: 1600$ in Business (Z)

Feeders will be available (CO/UA in domestic USA, LH in Europe), however they will be 150$++ for CO/UA and 120€++ for LH, so you may be better off making your arrangements. There will be the facility to request a feeder in the booking form. If we have more than 10 (from OSL-FRA for example) we can apply for a group fare which will be about 10% lower than the W fares.

We are still working on lowering these prices and as things stand some discounts (aprox 5%) may apply to the group fare if certain conditions are met. Stay tuned.

Note: like last year these tickets are not upgradeable. Miles are earned just like you would for a regular ticket. The flexibility of these tickets will be restricted. Like last year there will be a change fee. Also we will collect a non refundable component on the tickets to avoid changes and cancellations that caused a lot of last minute headaches last year. The reason to restrict the tickets is that some abused the generosity of the participating airlines

CO is offering a 'meetingworks' discount for all scheduled CO metal flights to and from the events like last year which is 3-13% off on published prices depending on the fare booked.

The Charter

The charter price includes transportation and service from/to IAH-PHX-PAE//SEA. As mentioned above the repositioning leg back to the location where the charter came from is optional.

The pricing is: 1499$ for the F seating, 699$ for economy. We plan to collect the money in US$. The funds will be collected via paypal or you can mail a check in US $ issued by a US Bank to us. As per 14CFR 380 the funds will go into a secured account at JPM Chase.

Miles: the miles for the charter awarded will depend upon the actual charter provider. Right now we plan to ask the participating FFPs for the actual miles flown (aprox 4031) with a class of service bonus.

Please note that you cannot book the group fare(s), attend any dinners, events or tours of SMD2 if you have not booked the charter. We need to implement this restriction again in order to limit/cap attendance and make the planning of the event easier. This year we expect about 216 participants and last years 220+ were a tough job already.

Website
Like last year we will maintain the website starmegado.com with the latest information and add pictures, blogs, videos etc. Please refer to this thread and the main website for details.

Booking
The sign up process opened on www2.starmegado.com/signup on Friday, June 11, at 5pm Eastern (NYC) time.

The booking process will require you to provide:
- your personal details,
- your personal preferences to enable us to organize the charter*,
- pick and specify which of the scheduled flights you intend to book and on which date (UA feeder flights, TATL eastbound on LH/OS/LX, TATL westbound on LH, final TATL eastbound SEA-Europe on LH)
- specify if you require a discount / meetingworks code to get to/from IAH and later SEA
- indicate if you will stay at the Starwood properties that will host the event on the ground

For existing signed up particpants, we have a password protected section of the website where you can edit your details, find a detailled programme and booking links to the various special rates we have secured with the hotels.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding as we put this interesting puzzle together!

sbm12 (Seth): official blogger, the guy who makes sure each bottle opened meets the required quality standards etc etcLHrelate, who put us in touch with the right people to make the first SMD happenmbm3, who gave the right twist to the SMD website
the many airline and hotel employees who would like to remain unnamed

We need your full name for the flight booking / manifest, the passport details
are usually required for security clearances at the airport and Boeing

' I don't have a FT, scanair.no or VFT handle'
No problem, just add a _p1 if you are a +1 to an existing participant, or write
'no FT/VFT handle' in the field

'I have many FFP memberships, which one do I put in here?
For now please enter the highest elite status FFP you have in here.
Once the FFP credit amounts are clarified, you can indicate your choice where you want the miles to go.

Charter OptionsHow do I get my seating preference and class of service?

Like last year the time of submission of this form counts as priority
indication for seating assignment and getting your choice of class of service.

How much luggage can I bring with me?

We are extremely restricted in terms of luggage handling, so please limit your luggage to one piece as checked luggage and avoid taking anything bigger than a handbag on board to speed up any security checks and to minimize boarding times. If you are not the smart Ryan Bingham and need more, we advise you to make use of the FedEx baggage shipping.

Hotel Options

I want to stay at a different hotel
No problem, just make sure you know the schedule and report in time
The hotel is far cheaper on priceline / with corporate codes / points
You are free to book the hotel as you wish. The rate are a little higher than
the deepest discounted rates as we will retain some flexibility and since
the hotels in some cases are providing some of the event catering & facilities

Scheduled Flight Options

I want to make my own flight arrangements with cheaper fares / points etc
Feel free to make your own arrangements, but please note that the
organizers cannot accommodate you or wait if your flights are delayed.
Make sure you keep adequate buffer times and report to the event meeting
points in time.
I want to fly out in Business and back in Economy
No problem, just choose the class of service for each segment

I just need a one way
Feel free to only pick one segment.

I don't want to be on the scheduled event flights but fly in or out earlier/ later
That is fine, just make sure you don't fly more than one week before or after
the event. Also a 5% surcharge will apply to such segments if the number of participants on that flight is less than 10.

I want to upgrade the LH segments with miles or SWUs
Note that the fares provided here are not meant to be upgraded.
Why are the prices higher than last year?
The airlines expect higher loads on our flights this year and have to account
for lost revenue.
UA doesn't have a flight to JFK that suits me.
Feel free to choose a feeder that flies into LGA or EWR instead keeping
in mind the transfer time to JFK and NYC traffic.

Event optionsI just want to be at the events, this is a DO afterall.
Sadly this is not an open Do, you have to be on the charter* to be
part of any event. This is to control the number of attendees and costs for the sponsors.

I'll just mark all events, and later decide
Please be careful to pick which events you want to attend. Last time
everyone wanted to be at every event and reality was a bit different
causing headaches for both the organisers and the sponsors.

Why do I have to pay for the FT awards dinner?
The FT awards event is happening during the Starmegado, but is not part of the Starmegado. In order to account for the catering and make the costs transparent, we have separated the event and also will charge separately (aprox 40$).

Thank you for all the work you have put into this already Oliver, Tommy, Reb & Seth & others. So exciting. I can fit in with a trip to the US already in place, & do SMD2. Agree, utter madness : enticed.

1. If the charter ends in PAE, hopefully CO will offer a oneway fare back to IAH. (But hopefully CO provides one of the charter aircraft).

2. Charter is requirement for participation as indicated, including FRA party. But I assume, if you are on the charter, buying TATL tickets through group fares is not required for FRA party participation, since starting points can be FRA, IAH, PHX. (ie you fly the CO flight from FRA-IAH).

Why not make the CO flight (CO47) an option (like the LX option). CO47 is also LH7601. With the quiet 7pm reception at IAH - should work for those who arrive later on the CO flight and want more time in FRA in the morning and want to experience CO flight.

First let me express my thanks to all in front & behind the scenes for again taking on the insane endeavor

Now, for the first stupid question of this thread....

If we opt for the 1way LX option ex-JFK, is there an "official" return option (and associated price) to get us back to IAH?

Thank you from a FTer who is confused as she has barely woken up and has not yet had her required brain starter coffee fix.

p.s on a different tangent...I'm kinda bummed the LH fare isn't upgradeable, as I think it would be a hoot to watch all the FTers with their paper SWUs fighting it out at the gate

* My 'guess' is that the LX pricing includes the return on LH440 w/ the rest of the group, regardless if you took LH or LX over. That's just a guess, but that's how I've interpreted it. Of course I haven't had any tea yet this morning, so I'm not awake yet either - after a late night out for drinkies w/ some Germans who were in town.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cova

Great start.

1. If the charter ends in PAE, hopefully CO will offer a oneway fare back to IAH. (But hopefully CO provides one of the charter aircraft).

2. Charter is requirement for participation as indicated, including FRA party. But I assume, if you are on the charter, buying TATL tickets through group fares is not required for FRA party participation, since starting points can be FRA, IAH, PHX. (ie you fly the CO flight from FRA-IAH).

Why not make the CO flight (CO47) an option (like the LX option). CO47 is also LH7601. With the quiet 7pm reception at IAH - should work for those who arrive later on the CO flight and want more time in FRA in the morning and want to experience CO flight.

1. I'm sure they'll post as soon as everything is sorted, and then you'll know like the rest of us

2. I think that's right. Didn't others make their way to FRA via alternate, as well as the official party flight?

3. Maybe cuz pricing worked better w/ LH? If you're doing your own booking, presumably you can show up if the party's still going if you went CO. Guess the question I'd have is why fly a separate airline on both segments when there probably won't be any/many FTers just to attend the party in FRA? Part of the overall exerience is to be surrounded by your fellow wacky FTers

tommy, oliver, reb & seth - thanks again for taking this on. i'm sure it will be fab!